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Friday, August 23, 2013

Obama orders US intelligence to probe Syria attack

Syria asked to okay UN chemical attack probeUnited
Nations, United States / United States (AFP) Aug 22, 2013 -
The United Nations formally asked the Syrian government Thursday to
authorize UN experts to investigate a reported chemical attack with mass
casualties near Damascus, a spokesman said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also has decided to send Angela Kane,
the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs to Damascus, UN
spokesman Eduardo del Buey said.
Damascus had agreed at the end of July, following an earlier visit by
Kane, to allow UN experts to investigate three other sites where
chemical weapons attacks were alleged to have taken place.
"The secretary-general believes that the incidents reported yesterday
need to be investigated without delay," del Buey said in a statement.
"The secretary-general now calls for the mission, presently in Damascus,
to be granted permission and access to swiftly investigate the incident
which occurred on the morning of 21 August 2013.
"A formal request
is being sent by the United Nations to the government of Syria in this
regard. He expects to receive a positive response without delay," del
Buey said.
The UN chief also called for a cessation of hostilities so humanitarian aid could reach the victims of the fighting.
The UN spokesman gave no details on when Kane would travel.White House faces new heat on SyriaWashington, District Of
Columbia (AFP) Aug 22, 2013 -
Revulsion over photos of child victims of an alleged chemical weapons
attack in Syria left the White House facing new calls for a firm
response Thursday.
Republican Senator John McCain warned President Barack Obama had given
President Bashar al-Assad a "green light" to commit atrocities by
failing to use military force to respond to previous attacks.
The White House said it was appalled by reports of an attack which
rebels said killed 1,300 people outside Damascus, and renewed calls for
Syria to allow a UN probe.
McCain has been a frequent critic of Obama's reluctance to commit US
military forces to protect civilians in Syria, and bemoaned the horror
of the latest attack.
"When the president of the United States says that if he uses these
weapons that it would be a, quote, 'red line and a game-changer,'
(Assad) now sees that as a green light," he told CNN.
"The word of the president of the United Sates can no longer be taken seriously, as it isn't throughout the entire region."
McCain said that in a "couple of days" US air power could take out
Syrian air force runways and up to 50 aircraft being used to dominate
battlefields against rebels.
"We can supply the right kind of weapons to rebels, establish a no-fly zone by moving Patriot missiles up to the border.
"This can be done very easily."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration was horrified by the latest reports.
"The images that we have seen are nothing short of horrifying," he said.
He repeated a US call for Syria's government to permit a United Nations
team already in the country to probe previous alleged chemical attacks
to examine the new claimed outrage.
Shocking pictures of dead children blanketed the front pages of US
newspapers and were shown on cable news shows Thursday, subjecting the
White House Syria policy under new scrutiny.
The Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed official as saying there were
"strong indications" that Syrian government forces had carried out a
chemical weapons attack.
The White House declined to confirm that statement, and has said it is seeking to verify the reports.
Damascus has vehemently denied it unleashed chemical weapons on rebel-held area outside Damascus.

President Barack Obama has ordered US spy agencies to urgently probe
claims that Syrian forces launched a horrific chemical attack on
civilians, including children, aides said Thursday.
Officials said they could not yet be sure the deadly arms had killed as
many as 1,300 people outside Damascus, even though US ally France said
it was likely they were used.
The Obama administration is facing rising political pressure for a tough
response to the attack, which could have again infringed US "red lines"
against chemical weapons use by President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said that Obama had asked
intelligence agencies to urgently evaluate claims by Syrian rebels about
the attack.
"Right now, we are unable to conclusively determine CW (chemical weapons) use," Psaki said.
But she said the administration had been focused continually since
reports of the attack broke on Wednesday on efforts to "nail down the
facts."
Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the episode with key
counterparts, including Syria's main opposition leader Ahmad Assi Jarba
and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
Kerry also called top officials at the European Union, the United Nations and in Jordan, Qatar and Turkey.
"If these reports are true, it would be an outrageous and flagrant
escalation of (the) use of chemical weapons by the regime," Psaki said.
Obama has a range of options at his disposal and would discuss a response with his top national security aides, Psaki said.
The president has been loath to order US military action to protect
civilians in Syria, fearing being drawn into a vicious civil war, just
soon after he extracted US troops from Iraq.
But revulsion over video footage and photos of dead children blanketing
the US media has reopened the debate about a policy Obama allies see as
prudent but critics brand as weak.
Republican Senator John McCain warned Obama had given Assad a "green
light" to commit atrocities by failing to use military force to respond
to previous chemical attacks.
"When the president of the United States says that if he uses these
weapons that it would be a, quote, 'red line and a game-changer,'
(Assad) now sees that as a green light," he told CNN.
"The word of the president of the United States can no longer be taken seriously, as it isn't throughout the entire region."
The White House concluded earlier this year that Syria had crossed
Obama's red line against the use of chemical weapons, but opted not to
take military action.
Instead, it decided to directly arm selected Syrian rebel groups
battling Assad -- but has declined to publicly specify the extent of the
support.
McCain said he wants to see more robust action.
He said that in a "couple of days" US air power could take out Syrian
air force runways and up to 50 aircraft being used to dominate
battlefields against rebels.
"We can supply the right kind of weapons to rebels, establish a no-fly
zone by moving Patriot missiles up to the border," he said.
"This can be done very easily."
America's top military officer General Martin Dempsey has said however
that Washington risks being dragged into an open-ended war in Syria if
it chooses a military intervention.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration was appalled by the latest reports.
"The images that we have seen are nothing short of horrifying," he said.
He repeated a US call for Syria's government to permit a United Nations
team already in the country to probe previous alleged chemical attacks
to examine the new claimed outrage.
The Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed official as saying there were
"strong indications" that Syrian government forces had carried out a
chemical weapons attack.
French President Francois Hollande contributed to rising heat on the
White House when he said it was "likely" Assad forces had deployed
chemical weapons in the attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb.
Fabius had earlier said that the world should respond "with force" if it
was proven the massacre was perpetrated with chemical agents. But he
ruled out the use of ground troops.
Damascus has vehemently denied it unleashed chemical weapons in the attack.
If confirmed, the attack would be the largest scale use of chemical
weapons since Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces attacked the Kurdish town of
Halabja in 1988.Chemical weapons, developments in SyriaNicosia (AFP) Aug 22,
2013 -
Below are events that have led to charges by the Syrian opposition that
government troops unleashed chemical weapons on civilians near Damascus
this week.
--2012--
- July 23: The Syrian regime acknowledges for the first time that it has
a chemical weapons stockpile and threatens to use it in case of a
Western military intervention, but never against its own people.
- August 20: US President Barack Obama says the United States would
regard any recourse by Damascus to its deadly arsenal as crossing a "red
line".
- December 3: NATO warns Syria against using chemical weapons, as a US
official says that Syria has begun mixing chemicals that could be used
to make sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent.
- December 24: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says it would be
"political suicide" for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to use chemical
weapons against the armed opposition, and says he does not believe he
would.
--2013--
- January 30: The Israeli air force hammers a military complex near
Damascus suspected of holding chemical agents, saying it fears their
transfer to Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, according to a US
official.
- March 19: The government and rebel forces accuse each other of using chemical weapons for the first time.
- March 20: Obama warns the Damascus regime any use of chemical weapons against civilians would be a "game-changer".
- April 8: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says a UN inspection team is
in nearby Cyprus and ready to deploy. Syria rejects the mission as
proposed by Ban.
- April 25: The White House says that Syria has probably used chemical
weapons against rebel forces on a "small scale," while emphasising that
US spy agencies are still not 100 percent sure.
- May 10: US Secretary of State John Kerry says there is "strong
evidence" that the regime has used chemical weapons against rebels.
- May 18: Assad denies that his forces have used chemical weapons.
- June 4: UN investigators say they have "reasonable grounds" to believe
that both sides in Syria have employed chemical weapons, on four
occasions. France says it "is clear" that Assad's regime is using sarin
gas.
- June 13: The White House says a "red line" has been crossed and accuses the Syrian regime of using chemical weapons.
- June 14: The Kremlin says the US accusations are "unconvincing".
Damascus calls them "lies". Britain says it agrees with the US
assessment. NATO says Damascus must let the UN investigate.
- July 9: Russia's ambassador to the UN says Moscow has proof that
rebels used sarin gas in the northern town of Khan al-Assal on March 19.
The White House says it has seen no such proof.
- July 23-24: Two senior UN chemicals weapons experts hold talks in Damascus.
-August 14: UN announces the Syrian government has formally accepted
"the modalities essential for cooperation to ensure the proper, safe and
efficient conduct" of an inspection mission.
It says the inspectors led by Swedish arms expert Aake Sellstroem will
investigate three sites of alleged chemical attacks for a period of at
least two weeks.
- August 18: UN inspectors arrive in Damascus.
- August 21: The Syrian opposition accuses the regime of killing more
than 1,300 people with chemical weapons near Damascus, and posts grim
video images to the Internet. The government denies using chemical
weapons.
- August 22: The international community and human rights organisations
call on UN experts in Syria to probe the charges of a chemical weapons
attack on civilians.